Dreams and Reality
by Saki0112
Summary: Mitobe Haruka seems to have crossed over to a different world resembling the one from the ever-popular "Naruto" series. Pretending to be an amnesiac, she tries to find ways to get back home but is soon plagued by oddly familiar memories and nightmares she never remembers upon waking up. While learning about her place in this world, she realizes that all is not as it seems.
1. Chapter 1

All canon characters © Masashi Kishimoto

 **Dreams and Reality**

 **Chapter 1**

 _ **It Starts with a Death**_

" _This isn't supposed in reality, it's only supposed to happen in fanfiction, usually really badly written ones." ~ Mitobe Haruka_

 _No_

 _No!_

 _NO!_

The wide expanse of forest stretched out before her, birds could be seen flying overhead, a couple of deer grazing just at the edge of a clearing. There was nothing unusual about this, except that there was no sound. She could see the birds opening their mouths, their tiny, feathery throats moving wildly with a silent cry while the wind passed by, leaves shaking with the silence of an old film.

Confused and scared, she rubbed her ears. She couldn't be deaf. No. She held back a whimper, or at least she tried, she had no voice, or she couldn't hear it.

Then in an instant the peaceful scenery before her shattered like glass and was instantly replaced with ruins before a setting sun. Squinting her eyes she could barely make out two figures. One only inches taller than the other, she was sure it would have been taller if the figure straightened up a bit. The shorter figure slowly backed away as the taller one advanced. When the shorter one finally hit the wall behind it, the taller one raised its arm slowly. All thought died there.

"Save them _...please"_

She turned around to look over her shoulder trying to find the owner of the voice, but nothing. She only continued to watch the scene that seemed to surround her. The taller one slowly sank to his knees. It wasn't the overly dramatic falls Hollywood film-makers used when showing the death of a hero or of a protagonist. Nor was it the kind of fall someone would instantly scream over. It was the kind of fall that happened when the unlikely saviour sacrificed themselves for the good of others. The kind that froze everyone's hearts and make them start silently weeping.

 _Crash!_

She opened her eyes, sweat leaving a thin layer of moisture over her skin as she panted, trying to stop her erratic heart from jumping out. From her position on the floor, she looked around her room. It was the same, minimalistic style she loved. Black and white book shelves, filled to the brim with light readers and old scrolls her late grandparents had passed to her. On the far end of the room was the door, complete with the backwards handle, the people had bought the wrong facing door when the place had been renovated. Her regular table with her mess of papers of western cake designs and eastern deserts, and recipes from all around the world, sat in the corner.

She let out a sigh and relaxed into her starfish position on the floor once more with a promise not to have Mackerel, miso, and strawberries right before falling asleep. With a loud groan she finally pulled herself up into a sitting position and stretched. Today was a Saturday, meaning a whole day of helping at the family bakery, not that she minded. She loved baking and cooking, her goal was to become a culinary chef while cooking with the principals of the old Chinese yin and yang theories; in which pork was a hot food while stripped seaweed was a cold food. However she was still 18 and needed to enter College or University first.

There was a good culinary high school in the next district, however her parents didn't have the liberty at the bakery to let her go. So she did what she could and studied at home and experimented. Her teacher had been impressed when she had first expressed her interest and had even offered to send a letter of recommendation to the culinary college she had chosen. Of course she had accepted the offer, any little bit helped.

So it was natural that she was shocked when she realized that her desk wasn't littered with papers on cake designs, deserts and notes on the principals of Yin and Yang as food, but covered with notes on medicine. There were detailed notes on medicine, ingredients, taste, and the principals of Yin and Yang of the body.

Of course she also stared in silent wonder when an orange ball barrelled itself into the room as it yelled a rushed, "Morning Haru, hide me!" before locking itself into the closet.

Panic and anger started to fill her senses for a little while before calming down once more. She was sure that this was all just a harmless joke her younger brother was pulling on her.

With a strained sigh she walked to the closet and opened the door "ok, where did you put my papers Kyō-..." she muttered on as she stared at a blond kid. He was the same age as her younger brother, and looked like the best Naruto Cosplayer in the world. She would have believed it too, that her brother pulled this prank, if only a hand from behind didn't pull her away from the door.

"There you are, idiot." She fell back, standing in her room were three kids and a man with every likeness to team7 of the famed Naruto series.

"This isn't supposed in reality, it's only supposed to happen in fanfiction, usually really badly written ones." As she muttered this, the man stared at her as if she were going crazy. Actually she wasn't sure if she really was going crazy or not, after all this could all be a dream.

"What's wrong Haruka?" he asked. And all faded into black.

"...wrong with..."

She opened her eyes slightly, wondering why everyone was being noisy. Bringing a hand to her head, she sat up. A dull pain lingered in the back of her head as her vision returned. Sitting at the edge of the bed was the grey haired Jounin, reading that ridiculous book while the three Genin sat around the room. Exploring a bit, trying not to mess up the room too much.

"You woke her up, idiot" Sasuke hissed at the blond while Sakura berated the orange high-lighter for messing up the room. Not that she really cared at the moment.

"Who are you people?" She asked slowly, her voice just barely over a whisper, as if to stop the rising fear from taking over her, however her voice plainly showed her panic.

"Did you forget about us Haru-nee?" Naruto asked bounding up onto the bed.

"I don't know who you people are and how do you know my name?" She asked suspiciously. _This definitely was a dream,_ she convinced herself when she realized she felt the shift in the bed from the blond. "I don't care" she started as he tried to speak up "this is all just a dream and _you guys_ are figments of my imagination." Letting out a haggard sigh she laid back down and pulled the covers over her. _I'm going to close my eyes, and when I open them again, the scenery is going to change and-_ her train of thought was abruptly cut off when she was roughly pulled out of bed by the same orange high-lighter that barged in that morning.

"Haru-nee it's me! Naruto! If you're mad about me using your house as a hiding spot, I'm sorry!" the blond was crying and clinging onto her arm. It wasn't a serious crying, more of a comical whine mixed with eye-drops but crying none-the-less.

"I don't know what you're talking about" now she was starting to get angry. Pulling her arm back she marched over to her book shelf, pulled out a random book, and opened to a page. After skimming the passage, she closed the book, careful to mark her page, counted to ten and re-read the passage. It was the same. She frowned and put the book back. She needed more proof that this wasn't dream for her to accept it. Turning around she opened the window and listened to the sounds to the village. Unlike in dreams, she could hear everything, even the rustling of the trees below where a bird had landed.

"No, this is a dream, it has to be" she looked at the shinobi in her room and let out a nervous chuckle and checked the mirror. No distorted images, just her looking back.

"Maybe we should take you to the hospital." This time Kakashi spoke up startling her.

"Normally I would protest, but..." she paused, her gaze passing over the younger teens in the room. "I actually think that, that may be a good idea."

"Ok Haruka," Kakashi dragged in a long breath, holding back a sigh as he finished "we'll let you get dressed." With what looked like a troubled glance at the older teen, stood up and started dragging the orange high-lighter out of the room, along with the pinkette and the dark haired kid.

Haruka watched as the door to _her_ room closed. When it did, a choked sob slipped past her chapped lips as she flopped back onto her bed, the heels of her hands pressing against her eyes. Who was she? That was the first thought that appeared in her head. Or if it wasn't who was she, but who did she replace? Apparently these people, characters, _whatevers_ , knew who the other Haruka was and expected her to be her. Sucking in a deep breath she gathered all she could together. It was like piecing a thousand piece puzzle with no picture.

She made a list:

Mitobe (if they had the same surname) Haruka knew Kakashi and his team

She seems to be on good terms with them (who knew if she was friendly with the other teams)

Apparently this Haruka was into medicine

This Haruka seemed to have the same, or similar, tastes as she did in terms of style.

Sitting back up, Haruka walked over to the closet to pick out some clothes and frowned when she realized that most of the clothes were obviously for 'shinobi' as her clothes were very un-civilian, she guessed.

This Haruka was a Kunoichi. A Medical-nin, or aspiring Medical-nin probably judging by the papers on her desk.

Haruka added to the growing list and started to pick out some clothes. The most conservative she could find and stepped out the door. The house, apartment, was void of other people besides Kakashi's team, whom she found lounging around in the living room. The apartment was, in her thoughts, quite decently sized for someone who was probably living alone. It seemed it was a small, one bedroom apartment with a living room, one bathroom, and a kitchen.

"Sorry but, where are Haruka's er… my parents?" she asked. It was strange to talk about herself and the other Haruka as the same person. Especially since their only real similarities seemed to be their names.

"Your parents died seven years ago" Kakashi explained "it was on a mission." It took a while for those words to sink into her.

"Oh"

This Haruka's parents are dead

She paled at this new information and a deep frown marred her face. This other Haruka, if their ages matched, had been alone since the age of 11. Sure it was nothing compared to some other shinobi, namely Naruto, but the thought of her parents dying didn't settle well in her stomach. The more she thought about the possibility of never seeing her family again made her stomach squeeze, and her blood run cold, however it didn't hurt as much as she thought it should. She looked up and noticed that everyone was staring at her worriedly. How could she explain to these people, that she wasn't who they thought her to be?

"Did you suffer head trauma in your last mission Haruka?" Kakashi asked pulling her away from her thoughts. Then again they seemed to think that she had amnesia. Maybe that was the best idea to follow. She wasn't exactly sure how amnesia worked but maybe she could pull this off.

"I don't know." It was just until she knew how to get back home. "Maybe?" she added scratching her cheek. "What kind of a mission was this?" she tried to probe around for some more answers.

"It seems like your amnesia is pretty selective" Kakashi gave her a slightly doubtful look but explained anyways. "Your team was retrieving a scroll from one of the temples close to the Land of Fire's borders."

Haruka nodded "and who else was in the team?"

Kakashi sighed "three others, a Jounin by the name Shiranui Genma who lead and two other Chūnins by the names Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo."

"I guess I was the medical-nin?" Haruka scratched her cheek when a thought came to her, "Shiranui Genma is a special ops Jounin, and so doesn't this mean that this was a dangerous or an important mission?" Haruka asked.

"So you remember who Genma is" Kakashi muttered in thought. "Do you, at the least remember your rank?"

Haruka paused for a second, judging by what Kakashi had said in the before statement, and from what she knew on the ranking of Ge, Chu, and Jo, she answered "Chūnin" it wasn't too hard to guess, especially since Kakashi had said before 'and two other Chūnins', which meant that there was another Chūnin not mentioned, which was most likely herself, or rather the other Haruka.

"Well, it seems like only a little bit of your memory might be damaged" Kakashi stood up and walked over to the door. "Well, as long as your work isn't affected, I guess it can't be too big a problem" he continued while walking out the door, the other Genin following him. Naruto was the last to follow Kakashi out the door, dragging Haruka along with him.

She stayed silent, seeing as this Haruka's job was to heal, her lack of memory would become a huge impediment to her supposed "work".

"Don't worry Haru-nee, you'll get your memory back in no-time." Naruto started but trailed off. Haruka watched the young blond try his hardest to make her feel less gloomy and smiled. To her, Naruto reminded her of her brother, Kyōshi.

"Naruto" Haruka started with a voice barely above a whisper. Naruto stopped walking and looked up at her, his head tilted and his eyes narrowed in question. "Thanks." She gave him a small grin. In response to her grin, he beamed back and started walking faster. She wanted to, but didn't ask about her brother, something inside her told her not to ask, and she always listened to her gut. Maybe if she was still curious, maybe she would ask before she went back to her world.

When they reached the hospital, after a long trip of Naruto and Sakura pointing out various places that _this_ Haruka liked to visit and brief reintroductions to Team7, she was greeted by two older men whom she knew as the other two members of the team she had her last mission with. On the left stood a man with a bandage across his nose and spiky hair, and on the right was a man with his Hitai-ate in a bandana fashion.

"Haru! So I guess that blow was actually something serious" the man with the bandage commented.

"I guess" Haruka gave him a half-hearted grin and scratched her cheek trying to figure out who this one was.

"Well, take better care of yourself, if one of Konoha's best medical-nin gets injured, we'll all be in big trouble." bandana joked.

Haruka looked from one to the other and gulped back the bile rising up her throat. She now had another piece to add to her puzzle.

Haruka was most likely a medical prodigy

"Actually" Naruto started, but Kakashi butted in, explaining the events that occurred not too long ago, as well as their findings.

"So…" the two Chūnins looked around Kakashi to Haruka. "You're saying that she has amnesia, and therefore she might be out of action for a bit." bandana summarized.

"But does she even remember us?" the man with the bandage questioned.

Haruka scratched her cheek "Maybe? Kakashi here told me who was on the team. So I'm guessing you're Izumo" she pointed at the one with the bandage across his nose, "and you're Kotetsu?" she turned to the other one.

"Wrong, the other way around" bandana explained. "I'm Izumo and this guy is Kotetsu."

"Oh, sorry" Haruka bit her lip, she felt so sure that she had been correct too. She had heard the names before, since her younger brother was a Naruto fan, but it still was hard since she herself hadn't really gotten on that wave. The only things she knew were the little bits and pieces that Kyōshi had told her.

"Well get better soon" Kotetsu ruffled her hair.

"We'll drop by your place later too." Izumo promised before the two Chūnins walked out of the hospital. Haruka waved them off and turned to Kakashi.

"So, what happens now?" she asked.

"You sit here with the other kids, I'll go call someone." He pushed her into a chair between Naruto and Sasuke before walking deeper into the building, not bothering to go to the reception desk first. _Kids_ she thought, and wondered if she would also fit into that category.

"So, Haru-nee, do you remember anything?" Naruto asked as he fidgeted on the seat and pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Sorry Naruto, I don't really remember too much of anything." Haruka turned to him and forced a smile. "But I do remember everything you and Sakura told me on the way here" she re-assured when he seemed to grow more worried.

"So I guess it's not anterograde amnesia" a voice appeared from behind them. Haruka turned to look at the stranger who stood beside Kakashi. She was about five centimeters taller than Haruka, with brown hair in a ponytail, and two red inverted triangles on her cheeks.

Haruka gave a wary smile, eyes darting between the Jounin and the stranger. "I'm sorry, an anti…a what?" She questioned the female. From what she gathered, the female was the same age as herself, and smelled of dogs, not that she didn't like them, dogs that is, she just preferred cats a little better.

The brunette laughed "Anterograde Amnesia" she repeated. Haruka stared on in silence "it means that you can retain your memory." Haruka's mouth formed a small 'o' and slowly nodded, mentally noting to herself that there seemed to be different kinds of amnesia, and that it worked differently from what she had expected.

"But Haruka-nee only lost her memory" Sakura piped up, confusion plain on her face.

"Well, there are two main types of amnesia, one is retaining your memory but losing the ability to gain new memories, and the other is being able to make new memories, but being unable to recall older ones from a fixed time." She explained to the four, who nodded like school children listening to their teacher.

"But she only lost her memories, so wouldn't it just be the second one?" Sakura continued to interrogate the newcomer.

"Well, a patient could have both." The stranger explained.

Oddly enough, the usually silent Uchiha spoke up "how far can this memory loss affect her and her memories" he asked, however it was more a demand in answer than a question.

It seemed that the stranger was about to speak when Kakashi interrupted. "It's great to know that you kids are curious, but we should hurry over to the neurology wing to get Haruka examined."

"R-right" Haruka nodded feeling unsure if she wanted to go through with this. _What if they found out I'm not their Haruka?_ She wondered as she followed Kakashi closely. The feeling in her gut magnified when they apparently reached the neurology wing. She felt as if she would heave her stomach contents to the floor, as Kakashi raised his hand to knock on the bleach white door of an office. Her pulse raced and she felt the blood in her veins suddenly go cold. She wasn't ready, she didn't want to disappoint anyone, all she wanted was to go back home.

The door opened and suddenly, all the pent up feelings, the worry, and the fear vanished. A thought came to her mind as if the opening door was giving her a clue, _so why in the world am I afraid that I'll be found out? If they knew, wouldn't that mean I would go home faster?_ She held back a grin as best as she could and followed Kakashi into the office. She ignored the possible odd stares she was getting from the female stranger and the three Genins, and Kakashi, but she didn't care.

Inside the office was what looked like an old man in his late fifties, early sixties, who sat on a large leather office chair that seemed to dwarf the old man. Silently he motioned for everyone to sit. They did, and waited for him to start speaking.

"Hana, why are you here?" he started, not seeming to be addressing anyone in particular, as he had opened a large newspaper. Haruka cocked her head to the side, wondering who the old man was talking to when the stranger stood up in surprise from next to Haruka.

"Shoot, sorry, when I learned that Haruka had amnesia, I got worried and followed." She explained. "I had hoped that she would remember me." Haruka mentally sighed and punched herself, so apparently she had been talking with one of Haruka's friends. "It seemed that she remembered team 7 so I wondered why not me…" Haruka bit down bile, _Amnesia can be selective…right?_ "…because amnesia is rarely selective and when it is, it's usually from psychological trauma." _Shit!_

"Yes, and I hear from her team mates that she was bleeding quite heavily from her head" the old man brought down his newspaper. Haruka gulped at how sharp the old man's eyes looked. She felt that she could cut paper with that glare. "I wasn't surprised when the silver haired brat" everyone looked to Kakashi who rubbed the back of his head "barged into my office during my morning coffee telling me that my student lost her memory. Especially since last night she came by my house." The old man stood up and showed us the large coffee stain on his pristine white lab coat.

"But what about Haru-nee?" Naruto asked, slightly whiny.

"Let her walk around some, she ain't an idiot like some people here. She'll remember soon enough the things I taught her" he then returned to his chair. "And I want everyone out, except Haruka-kun." To her, it felt weird to see some of the people she thought were powerful get told off by an old man, but then again, the old man was quite fierce.

The office was silence once more. Just the old man moved, flipping pages and sipping the remainders of his coffee. Haruka sat and waited, eyes darting around the room. She could see several posters and a mahogany book case in the corner, stacked to the brim with thick hard covers, the spines well worn. On the walls were pictures of scenery, one a brilliant forest, another an island covered in thick fog, and another of a desert. However, there was one picture that had people, it seemed it was a team of sorts: a man, who looked very much like the doctor, two boys, and a girl, her younger self. A sharp sigh from the old man brought her attention back to the doctor before her.

"Haruka-kun" he started, a lot kinder than the way he had addressed the others.

"Y-yes sensei?" she replied sheepishly.

"You probably don't remember this, but you asked me to hold onto this for you," the elder handed her an envelope. On the front her name, scrawled in semi-legible writing that looked suspiciously like her own, and guessed it was from the other Haruka.

"Thank you, sensei" she nodded, looking down at the probable letter in her hands.

"Oh, and since you lost quite a lot of blood last night and suffered quite a severe concussion, I recommend that you take the week off, no rehabilitation, no trying to regain your memory, and especially no trying to go on missions or following that blond brat around" the elder continued "you were throwing up like a drunk office worker, and you were flashing in and out of consciousness" a frown only deepened his seemingly permanent sharp stare. "The last thing I need is for my last student to be in-capitated," the last part was in a barely audible mutter.

"You, the silver haired one" the elder started again while raising his newspaper over his face. "Let her go home and sleep, and wake her up every three hours or so." Confused, Haruka opened the door to see Kakashi leaning against the wall, beside the door.

"Also make sure she doesn't do anything that requires too much thinking." The old man added, just before the door closed behind Haruka. "OH! And I have something to tell you!" the old man seemed to yell though the door as if he has just remembered an important fact.

Haruka opened the door once more. "Alone" the old man continued. With a gentle pat on the head, Kakashi entered the office room, leaving Haruka outside alone, leaving her nothing to do other than to listen to the muffled voices through the wall. She guessed about ten minutes had passed when the silver haired Jounin exited the office, the door closing with a small click.

"Quite forceful" Kakashi commented, once they were further away from the office "and that old man called me a brat" he added as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. Haruka smiled at what sounded like a pout in the Jounin's words. She had decided, after reading the contents of the other Haruka's letter, she could tell Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke, who she really was.

"Where's Naruto?" Haruka asked when she suddenly realized that the three Genins were gone.

Kakashi raised a brow "those three left with Inuzuka Hana, and should be waiting outside the hospital." Haruka hummed in understanding. "But we still have to tell Genma that you'll be out of action for a while." Kakashi said more to himself, but loud enough for Haruka to hear.

"Will that be causing any trouble?" she asked, feeling a little guilt. _Maybe once I read the letter, it'll tell me what to do_ she thought while waiting for Kakashi's response.

"It's not the first time a ninja was injured, we'll get through it" he reassured. Again Haruka only gave a wordless nod. Silently praying that nothing go wrong.

Just outside the hospital stood the three Genins, Hana nowhere to be found. "Where did Hana go?" Haruka asked to no-one specifically as looked around to see if she could get a glimpse of the Inuzuka female.

"She said that she had a mission she needed to get ready for, and that she'd drop by your place later in the week" Sakura answered, while the blond nodded and the Uchiha gave out a near silent grunt of agreement.

"Since you're out, and we don't have a mission, how about we go have ramen at Ichiraku!" Naruto forcefully suggested as he pulled on Haruka's sleeve.

Unconsciously Haruka made a face at the idea of having an oily bowl of hot noodles. It was unusually hot for the month of June and she didn't fancy having a bowl of mainly hot foods.

"You don't want to Haru-nee?" Naruto's question pulled her from her thoughts.

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just that it's really hot out. How about something else?" she suggested. "Like some local fruits?"

The others continued to stare at her suggestion. "But, I thought you liked ramen as much as the idiot did," Sasuke raised a brow.

"I admit, I like ramen, but it's way too hot for….what month is it? June?" Haruka turned to the silver haired Jounin. She needed to play her amnesia card, not to mention, she wasn't exactly sure if the date was the same as in her world, she had been too worried to check the calendar.

"It's June" he answered, a lazy eye kept a watch of her movements and behaviour as she interacted with the three Genin. He thought back to when the old doctor had said to him not too long ago.

" _Silver haired brat, when people have retrograde amnesia, they are acutely aware that they have a mental deficit, and are painfully knowledgeable about the fact that they lost things that are important to them." The old man sighed and folded up his newspaper, his eyes trained on the Jounin before him._

" _I'll say it straight here Kakashi, I will not allow you to make my student cry, therefore I forbid you to try and make her remember too much at one time. Have her walk around for a bit and talk to people. Have her make new memories instead of dwelling on the past for too long. Show her the things she liked, and the people she met, but don't tell her anything. If you accidentally give her the wrong memory, she might not be able to properly recover and she might have false memories created by other's words._

 _Knowing her, she'll probably try to re-learn everything, starting from the basics if she can't remember her jutsus. So I would just pull her out of any missions and etc. for a month or two." The old man scoffed "after all, ninja only seem to be used and known for their abilities. It hasn't changed since the wars, the value of a ninja that is."_

" _Should I look for any changes in her behavior?" Kakashi asked, already he felt that Haruka had changed a little._

" _It's not abnormal for people to change a bit, with retrograde amnesia, she might display symptoms of depression or she might shy away from society,_ especially _if you push her into remembering too much or try to make her meet your, and others', expectations." The old man warned him. The last thing he needed, or wanted, was for Haruka to run away from her responsibilities as a medical-nin. He knew that pushing her to do it would only make it worse._

" _Don't worry old man" Kakashi turned to leave, not bothering to wait to be dismissed. "After all, Haruka is the only one left from my past, but she really did grow up, she remembered her Jounin leader, but barely remembered me" a sad chuckle left his lips._

" _Of course she grew up" the old man growled "she isn't the same five year old girl who chased after you, it's been nearly 13 years since then. This is exactly the reason I call you a brat, BRAT! Now get out!"_

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled as he tugged on Haruka's sleeve. "We're leaving you behind!"

"Huh?" the silver haired Jounin shook his consciousness from this thoughts as he watched his three Genins drag Haruka down the main street.

"W-Wait a second!" he couldn't trust the blond to be at all considerate to Haruka. After all, Naruto wasn't the sharpest Kunai in the pouch.


	2. Chapter 2

All canon characters © Masashi Kishimoto

 **Dreams and Reality**

 **Chapter 2**

 _ **Conflicting**_

" _I will always be a Konoha Kunoichi." ~ Mitobe Haruka_

Protag Haruka = not underlined

"Other Haruka" = Underlined

"And then _Sasuke_ came out of no-where and took the cat from my hands!" Naruto finished his tale of one of their more recent missions.

"You nearly let the cat go, you idiot" the Uchiha growled at his blond team-mate. The blond only replying to the accusation with a growl of his own. Sakura only sided with Sasuke as the young team started to bicker in the nearly empty family restaurant.

Haruka laughed quietly as the argument started heating up. Somehow the conversation had gone from 'cat finding' to 'training dummies', which wasn't an understandable transition, but she found their excited movements to be amusing.

"What will you be having?" the waitress asked.

Haruka froze up, she didn't know what she, the Other Haruka, liked. Silently she looked over at the silver haired Jounin in front of her. She hoped that he could pick something on the menu for her. However it seemed like she didn't even have to silently plead. He had already picked things off the menu for both himself, and her.

The three Genins also made their order, and the waitress left with a slight bow.

By now, she knew several things about this world. They had phones, but not mobile phones. They had computers, but they were the large, bulky, and slow kind from ten, maybe fifteen years back from her world. This country was the Land of Fire, and the Hokage, was the leader of this "shinobi/ninja" village. The Hokage was kind of like the president of an external government organization, and everyone in the village respected the Hokage, and worked for the Hokage, rather than the Lord of the country. In return, the Hokage was the strongest and most respected person in the village, and he/she, had the duty to protect all citizens in the village, and some more privileged people in the country.

She also was told that medical-nin of Konoha didn't go on missions without certain prerequisites in skills. However she had never registered as a medical ninja, but many just acknowledged her as one for her talent.

"How do you feel?" Kakashi suddenly asked.

Surprised, Haruka looked up from her hands and looked back at the Jounin. "I-I think I'm good" she hesitated "just a bit over-whelmed" she looked back down at her hands again. "I just realized how dependant I am on you guys right now."

"Don't worry Haruka-nee!" Naruto stood up. "We'll take care of you for as long as you want us around!" He lightly promised. Sakura voiced her own agreement, and surprisingly Sasuke had answered back with a grunt.

Haruka blinked, she wasn't sure what kind of face to wear at a time like this. A touched one? A guilty one? A thankful one? Her face felt hot, and her vision blurred. "S-sorry, I'm just going to go to the washroom to wash my face." She stood up to go, when Kakashi pointed in the opposite direction, where a large washroom sign pointed to the back doors.

She stumbled into a stall, swiftly locked it, and let out a muffled sob. She couldn't do this. She had to tell them that she wasn't who they thought she was.

It was this argument again. What was stopping her from telling them? Fear? Was she afraid that they would hate her? Or disappointment? Was it that she didn't want to disappoint them? Was it betraying their expectations?

After what felt like days in the small cubical, she exited, washed her face, and with the determination to set things straight, she left the washroom.

Then the determination she had finally build up, though it was in a bathroom stall, broke. At her table was another man, with three other kids. Kakashi was standing up and talking with him. The man was tall, tanned, with black hair that seemed to be tinged a dark blue, and a full beard.

Beside him were three kids, Genin, she presumed by their age and Hitai-ate. A blond girl, who was trying to side up to Sasuke, despite the fuming glare of Sakura. A lazy looking boy, who yawned every so often, and a larger more rotund kid, who was talking with Naruto.

Quietly Haruka walked to Kakashi, and latched onto his vest. The other Genin were too busy, and a bit far from where she stood, so her best bet for safety came from the Jounin, she [the Other Haruka] had apparently grown up with.

"Is that Haruka?" the stranger asked, looking around Kakashi. Haruka clammed up. The last thing she wanted to do was accidentally make a shinobi mad, even with the excuse of amnesia, she probably wouldn't get away too easily. It didn't help that she normally wasn't a very extroverted character in the first place.

"Right, she has amnesia. She can't remember much other than daily necessities, and basic functioning." Kakashi explained. "Which I guess comes from body memory or something like that." He scratched the back of his head.

"Really?!" the stranger leaned in closer, as Haruka pushed herself closer to Kakashi, trying to hide her face. The stranger smelled strongly of cigarettes and she didn't want to offend him by covering her nose and mouth with her hand.

"Hi, I'm Sarutobi Asuma" he bent down to her level, and backed off a bit. "And your name is?"

Haruka hesitated "M-be Ruka" she mumbled through Kakashi's vest.

"I'm sorry?" Asuma chuckled.

"Mitobe, Haruka" She said a bit more loudly.

"Nice to meet you" he stuck out a hand, she gently shook it, and withdrew once more. She didn't want to meet any more people. The more people she "re-met" the more people she might one-day have to tell her secret, and a higher risk of being found out.

"I'm Yamanaka Ino" the blond detached herself from Sasuke for only a second to introduce herself, before going back to cling to him like a burr.

"How troublesome" the yawning boy grumbled "Nara Shikamaru."

"Akimichi Chouji" the larger boy grinned. Haruka nodded and shuffled closer to Kakashi, if that were possible. Her plan to tell Team 7 about who she was, had long since left her brain and she was left alone with one thought. _Why? Why was she here?_

"Well, we don't want to trouble Haruka too much, so we'll leave for now" Asuma pulled out, and headed to the Korean BBQ across the street.

Slowly Haruka let go of Kakashi and moved to her seat. She ignored the odd stares from her companions as the food finally arrived. She silently stared down at her hands, afraid that she had been found out.

"I guess first impressions never change" Naruto grinned. Confused, Haruka looked up from her plate. She wasn't quite sure why they were all grinning. Even Kakashi was wearing a slightly nostalgic expression. The others seemed to understand when they saw her look of confusion.

"The first time you met Asuma, you behaved the same way" Kakashi explained. Haruka nodded, but what she didn't understand was why the three young teens were grinning as well; well smirking in Sasuke's case.

"Asuma-sensei told us, when-" Naruto never got to finish his sentence as Kakashi quickly stood up and slapped his hand across the boy's mouth.

"Nothing, Asuma just told them, that's it." Kakashi growled, his coal eye staring straight into Naruto's blue hues. Slowly he sat back down "Haruka, we're going to let you make new memories, if you remember anything, great, if you don't, also great. We won't pressure you into remembering anything." He reassured, just as the rest of the food was placed before them on the table.

"Thank you, Kakashi." Haruka nodded slightly.

"No need to thank any of us, now eat."

Team 7 had walked Haruka back to her apartment, and though they insisted that she didn't have to, she bowed in thanks as they left for an afternoon mission, a rather boring one according to Naruto. She gave a small chuckle in amusement as she watched Naruto complaining to his Jounin-sensei while the other two Genin stayed silent.

Haruka let out a sigh and entered her apartment. Leaving the house keys on the hook by the door, she fished around in her pocket for the letter when a knock on the door startled her. Without bothering to look through the peep-hole to see who it was, she opened the door, coming face to face with Izumo and Kotetsu as well as another shinobi. She guessed the man between the two Chūnins was Shiranui Genma. She deducted this from the dark green flak vest she had seen Kakashi and Asuma wearing, which was darker than the Chūnin vests the Other Haruka as well as Kotetsu and Izumo had. Not to mention, the two Chūnin had mentioned something about dropping by, and the only logical person to bring, if they were to bring anyone, would either be a mutual friend or their Jounin leader from their latest mission.

"Izumo-san, Kotetsu-san…Captain Shiranui." She wasn't sure how friendly the Other Haruka was with the three, so went for the more formal and safe route.

"I heard you have amnesia." Genma gave her a worried frown. She slowly nodded, suddenly feeling as if she were cornered.

"I, um, was told to not do anything due to my injuries, and not to strain my brain." She repeated what the old doctor had told her that morning. Genma stayed silent, the senbon in his mouth moved from one side to the other. It wasn't hard to figure out that he was thinking. After what felt like a lifetime's worth of scrutiny from the Special Jounin, he nodded as if the words Haruka had said just reached him.

"Well then, we'll leave you alone to recover and we'll report that to the Hokage as well so that you can be given sufficient time to rest and heal" Genma explained. Haruka nodded and guessed that it was the Hokage who made the final decisions in the village, including shinobi dispatch and missions. "And I don't know what that Priestess told you but…" Genma stopped himself and scratched the back of his head with a troubled expression. "Nevermind, you probably don't remember, right?" Haruka nodded, as she had no idea who this priestess was.

In the end, she thanked them and watched them leave before closing the door and locking it behind her. This time, with no distractions, she fished the letter out from her pocket and made her way to the couch, sitting down before opening it in case it held some shocking information.

On the envelope was her name written in her illegible chicken scratch. Breaking the seal at the top of the envelope she pulled out the papers and opened them, reading aloud even though there was no-one else to hear.

" _I am Mitobe Haruka, a Konohagakure Kunoichi._

 _After I saved the Priestess, she had given me a vision regarding Itachi Uchiha."_

Haruka paused, "Uchiha?" She let the name roll around in her mouth, she was sure that her younger brother, when reading the manga, said something about Sasuke having an older brother. Did the Other Haruka have some sort of connection with Sasuke's brother?

She continued reading.

" _Even with what happened with Kyōshi, I can't leave Itachi to such a fate._

 _The wound to my head troubles me, I am afraid I might forget this important vision."_

Another pause. Somehow the Kyōshi of this world also had a connection with Itachi. Haruka frowned. Judging by the words, it seemed that wherever the Other Haruka was, she also had a reason to be back home with Naruto, Kyōshi, and the others.

" _Anyways, I was able to lock some memories in a jutsu in case I do end up forgetting, and hopefully this letter will not be a big deal in the morning._

 _If I don't forget, then I will keep this in case I need to remind myself why I'm setting myself to save him._

 _Even if it means I may be suspected, I will always be a Konoha Kunoichi."_

The Other Haruka seemed to be very directed and determined to help Itachi, leaving Haruka questioning Itachi and the other Haruka's relationship, but pushed the thought back as she put the first page on the coffee table. The next page had a large Kanji for _Mind_ , and surrounding it was small characters in a circular/sun-like pattern. Curious she ran her fingers across the black ink, wondering how long it would have taken a person to write all this out.

Before she could react, the ink words slithered up her arm. She could feel the unpleasant way the words crawled up her neck and to her cheek. Despite the unexpected phenomenon taking place, she amazingly stayed calm. She felt no fear when she saw the ink words from the corner of her vision, rear up from her cheek, like a cobra about to strike, and entered in through her eye.

For a second she was blind, unable to see, still she didn't panic; after all if this letter was made by the Other Haruka for herself, there was no reason for anything harmful to happen.

A bright light seemed to engulf her, then she heard laughter.

"Haruka-nee, come on!" a child called out, she could feel a rather strong tug on her sleeve, pulling her forward.

"I know I said it was a secret place, but you can open your eyes." A slightly deeper but still child-like voice chuckled.

Slowly she opened her eyes, before her spread an open field with lush green trees, common in Konoha, bordering the clearing. Further away she could see a large cliff face with a rather small waterfall and a deep ravine separating her from the towering rock face.

 _Oh wow._ Haruka gasped to herself at the picturesque scene before her.

"Haruka-nee, come on! They're leaving us behind!" She looked down, wondering who this kid was, and realized that this was a young Kyōshi. "Sasuke's going to leave us in the dust!"

"R-right!" she nodded and her body acted on its own, following the younger version of Kyōshi down the field. When they finally reached the opposite line of trees, she noticed; what looked like a younger version of Sasuke, with a victory grin, and beside him an unknown boy.

"I'm first!" Sasuke gloated, puffing up his chest in pride.

"Not fair, Haruka-nee was day dreaming!" Kyōshi argued "I want a rematch!"

"Fine, I'll race you to that tree!" Sasuke pointed off to another direction, stubby fingers directing everyone to the tallest tree.

"Ok," Kyōshi nodded then grinned "3-2-1, GO!" he rushed and sped off, leaving a slightly confused Sasuke a second behind.

"HEY!"

Haruka smiled, it seemed that the Kyōshi from this world, acted the same as her's.

"Day off, that's new." Haruka tried to cover her mouth in surprise. She didn't mean to say anything, but it seemed that she didn't have any control over the Other Haruka's memory body.

"Yeah, well, I just wanted to make sure that I could show you and Kyoshi this place." The boy answered, coal eyes squinting at the bright sunlight. "This is a safe spot."

The answer surprised both her and the Other Haruka. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing you need to know for now." He smiled a distant and closed mouth smile. She could tell it was fake. Before another question could be asked, the boy turned around. "Look, they're coming back."

"I did it Aniki!" Sasuke grinned, his eyes wide in excitement.

"The first round didn't count, right Itachi-san?!" Kyōshi ran up behind Sasuke and the two boys started to crowd around the long haired boy.

Haruka stared, _this is Itachi?_ She asked herself, staring at the boy who was now patting Sasuke and Kyōshi's heads.

Suddenly the place they stood at grew dark. A cold wind smothered her and settled in her joints, keeping her frozen where she stood.

"Haruka?" a very familiar voice, just deeper, called out and she knew who it was. However she didn't turn around to confirm her suspicions. Somehow, the body, the Other Haruka, knew that this was Uchiha Itachi without having to check the chakra.

"What do you gain from this, Itachi?" Haruka asked as she stared up at the large moon, its cold light seemed to frost over on her face. She could feel the various emotions that ran past the Other Haruka's young mind, the main question and feeling being 'Why?' and betrayal. Her jaws clenched to prevent any unnecessary words.

"It's none of your business." Haruka flinched inwardly at the cold tone. The voice contained none of the warmth from the previous memory. "I was just testing my strength." He retorted.

"Sure, that's why you left Sasuke alive but had the others, who couldn't fight back, killed." Haruka finally turned around, finding a fitting emotion to wear on her face. Itachi almost flinched at the raw anger she wore. "I'm not stupid Itachi."

"I said I was just-"

She didn't let him finish.

"And now I've lost faith in you." She walked confidently up to the Uchiha, raised a hand and boldly slapped him across the face. "Good Bye, idiot." She walked away. Haruka silently watched, feeling guilty. It seemed that this memory was a sensitive one, and she felt wrong to have watched what had happened, even if it was by accident.

The warm air in her single apartment was a drastic difference to the cold night of the memory. Haruka breathed deeply at the things she had seen. The paper was still in her hand and the day was still bright, it was as if the trip into the Other Haruka's memory didn't even take a second of her day. She didn't know the entire story but she knew that the letter, and the memory containing paper needed to be stored away in a place where no-one else could find it.

Unsteadily, Haruka staggered up, the blood rushing to her head from the change in elevation. The floor seemed to shake beneath her and she saw the wooden floor boards rushing up to meet her face. Her head pounded like an erratic second heart, trying to burst out from her skull. Memories she didn't remember, flashes of Kyoshi and Sasuke at a playground, a proud nod from the old Doctor, Itachi patting the ground next to him as if to invite someone to sit with him.

Despite the pain and the constant flashes of pictures, Haruka managed to push the letter, and the other papers that may lead to suspicions of such an object, under the couch.

"Haruka, it's Hana!" there was a polite knock on the door. Haruka twisted her head to face the door. The voice muffled by the pounding of blood in her ears.

She could only ignore the Kunoichi outside the apartment as she curled up into a ball, clutching her head that threatened to split.

"I'm sorry sis" one memory seemed to distinctly pop out from the barrage of images.

"I didn't want to" Kyoshi's voice pierced her conscience.

"I forced him to" Haruka wanted to ask the memory, ' _Who did he force?_ '

"I don't want to…" the last few words were lost as a black blanket offered the cool comfort of relief, and Haruka, slipped into the dark void of unconsciousness.

 **Author's Note:**

OK, sorry it took so long to update this. I missed the deadline I made for myself in September, and before I knew it, it was already October and I had Midterms looming. It really didn't help that my Father was away on a Business trip and I had to help run a part of his business for the past 2 weeks. Well yeah. Sorry, I'll now stick to my original update schedule for this story which is 3-4 weeks for a chapter.

I was just testing to see if it would be easier on the reader if I distinguished who I was talking about if I underlined one. Please comment to tell me if it made it any more confusing or if it cleared things up.

Thanks!

[P.S: Constructive criticism is always welcome. Just don't be like: "I hate your character" and then not tell me why. At least tell me why you don't like her, or the plot, or whatever you might not like or think I could improve on. If it's grammar…well, I could always find a Beta.]

I'm never happy with any of the titles so, don't complain, I don't like them too. :P


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